I wanted to thank the young man who was playing Christmas music on his trombone in front of Kroger last Saturday to help raise money for the Salvation Army. It lifted my spirits and put a smile on my face.

Gail Bottoms

Russellville

Thoughts on Arkansas Tech pool closure

I am a 14-year-old eighth-grade girl who goes to Russellville Junior High School. I have been on the Boys and Girls Club Shark swim team for seven years. In ninth grade, I was finally going to be able to join the high school swim team, which I have always wanted to do. Being on a swim team helps me stay active, learn to compete with others and also compete individually. The last seven years being on the swim team has helped me grow as a leader and helped me to build my confidence. As you probably know, being on a sports team also keeps many kids from experimenting with drugs and alcohol. But due to recent events, I might not be able to be on the high school swim team.

The recent event I mentioned is that the ATU pool will be closing at the end of this semester. Because of this, Russellville will have no indoor pool for the community to use. Since the high school swim team uses this pool for practice, they will not be able to practice for their meets anymore. Swim team allows both boys and girls to participate. The Tech pool does more than just let the swim team practice, they also allow other groups to do water aerobics and allow people to come just for pleasure.

Some possible solutions to this problem are that the high school could build a pool, that Hickey Pool becomes an enclosed pool, Russellville could have a community pool or the possibility that the Boys and Girls Club could build one. I am sure there are other ideas the community could come up with to save the RHS Swim Team and ensure the community could have an indoor pool. There are several cities across the state that provides a community indoor pool including Springdale, Bryant and Clarksville, who is currently working on now. Since I have been swimming for so long, this sport is very important to me and other people. If we do not get this problem fixed, it will be devastating to many people.

Andrea Bond

Russellville

Thoughts on the ‘Occupy’ movement

I believe I have just witnessed the origin, if not the nucleus, of the downfall and failure of this “Occupy” movement. It’s not the strength, money or influence of the corporate heads or anything of the like. It’s the people the movement “so-called” represents. Quite simply put, it’s not the filthy rich or even the rich at all whom set-up tents, waited in herd-like fashion for hours, packed parking lots of closed businesses, or God knows what fanatical ritual in order to get 30, 50 or 70 percent off to fill the pockets of the rich in the name of “Corporate Christmas.” Solidarity always, I said always, defeats greed. Selfishness and self-righteousness is only another form of it no matter what your financial standing may be. Black Friday was only a show of that and a message not sent.

Peter Ware

Russellville

The unsung heros

The unsung heros are school bus drivers. Schools would not exist without students so what would happen if suddenly all the students and their parents were responsible for getting to school on their own?

Since nobody seems to like the school bus drivers, then perhaps everybody should take responsibility of their own children — teach them at home or take them to school.

Rain, wind, sleet or snow rarely stops the school bus driver from safely picking kids up and taking them home from school — but what thanks do they get?

Everyone expects so much from the driver who has 60-80 untamed kids riding behind them, but nobody offers to help.

One would think that with this constant shortage of good, qualified drivers, a small token of appreciation would be a common courtesy among the people of our community.

Instead, we get people so impatient to get to their destination — they wait to leave until the last minute and then complain when they get stuck behind a school bus. The bus leaves at the same time every day, so it should come as no surprise when they arrive in your neighborhood — what’s up with that?

And then of course there is the running of the lights. What could possibly be so important that the passing of a school bus with lights flashing and children crossing becomes necessary — what demon inside you controls this death wish looking for a place to happen? Accidental dead is still dead!